


In Which Gray Is Badass, And Natsu Is Confused

by CeruleanShockwave



Series: a song of ice and fire [1]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Childhood Memories, Fighting, Gray is a badass, Gray vs Gajeel, Gray's mother was a martial artist, M/M, Martial Arts, Multi, Natsu is Confused, challenging everyone to a fistfight, cute stuff okay, gajeel is a lil bit arrogant, gray hands him his ass, he knows tons of stuff, how are these even tags?, natsu is confused as to how gray is more badass than him without magic, oh that's right i made them up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-10
Updated: 2018-11-10
Packaged: 2019-08-21 11:56:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16576001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CeruleanShockwave/pseuds/CeruleanShockwave
Summary: Natsu looked at Gray, who was to be frank whooping Gajeel's ass, in utter disbelief."How is my husband more badass than me?"Done for an ask on Tumblr by the wonderful @oceanwaves-blog!





	In Which Gray Is Badass, And Natsu Is Confused

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Oceanewave](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oceanewave/gifts).



Everyone knew that Gajeel’s brute strength went unmatched.

So, it was no surprise when he challenged anybody who was willing to fight him with no magic. If they won, he’d pay them a thousand Jewel, and if he won, vice versa.

Natsu had gone first.

He frowned as he remembered versing Gajeel last week, no magic involved, only fists.

He was ashamed, but not unwilling to admit, that the other Slayer had beaten the crap out of him.

In his defense, Natsu wasn’t a very skilled martial artist, preferring to punch and kick and blow fire till his opponent was down just by using brute strength, and Gajeel was about ten times Natsu’s size in muscle mass. That gave him a slight edge, and he exploited it for all it was worth.

Natsu missed that one thousand Jewel.

The fighting had gone on and on, Gajeel increasing the stakes. The losers would only pay him a thousand Jewel, but if he lost, he’d pay them all he had earned.

This prospect enticed a lot of the other members, especially Lucy. She had fought for surprisingly long considering her small frame and weak body, and had come close to matching Gajeel, revealing that Erza had trained her, but he had won in the end.

Even Erza, on her blonde girlfriend’s behest, had gone against him, only to lose by a millimetre.

Gajeel had ended up earning a million Jewel – a hundred members had ended up challenging him and lost.

“Is the Ice Boy scared?” Gajeel had asked when Gray had not come forward to fight him.

“No way in hell,” Gray had said, looking intrigued at the high stakes, and didn’t wait a second to attack, launching a flurry of blows onto the much burlier man.

Even now, Natsu watched as Gray landed a skilful high kick to Gajeel’s unguarded side, following it up by wrenching his arm behind his back and twisting,  _hard_. The Fire Dragon Slayer winced - that had got to hurt.

Gajeel growled and tried to punch Gray, but he was too fast. His smaller, lighter frame gave him the advantage in a pure martial arts fight. Gray landed another hit, this time to Gajeel’s knees, and the Iron Dragon Slayer groaned in pain.

Natsu didn’t get it. Gray was the pretty-boy who was all about the looks. 

_He_  was the badass one, the rock star, the guy with the rippling muscles who saved the day with his awesome-as-all-hell fire.

So how was Gray being so… so…

So badass right now?!

“…how is my husband more badass than me?” he muttered.

Across from him, Gray had Gajeel on the ground, one foot pressing the iron-eater’s thick neck to the floor, his knee on Gajeel’s chest, arms pinning the rest of the giant down.

“I win,” he breathed.

Mirajane looked shocked, but her face soon split into a grin.

“Winner, Gray Fullbuster! Pay up, Gajeel!” she shouted delightedly.

Gray looked all too smug as he pocketed the million Jewel. He walked back over to Team Natsu’s table and sat down, smirking widely.

“Hey, Lucy,” he called.

The blonde Celestial Wizard turned around. “Yeah? Great job, by the way, Gray!”

He passed her half the money.

“I don’t need all of it. Don’t worry.”

Lucy looked awed. “Thank you, Gray!” she yelled, hugging him.

“Ah, it’s – no problem,” he choked.

“How are you more badass than me?!” Natsu cried.

“What does that mean?”

“You’re supposed to be Pretty Boy, with your looks and your beautiful ice. I’m supposed to be the one who looks all cool and saves the day!”

Gray smirked.

“You’re more cute than cool, anyway,” he teased.

Natsu huffed and ignored him.

“Where did you learn all that, anyway?” he asked eventually.

Gray’s eyes clouded over.

“My mother was a professional martial artist. It ran in her family. I grew up fighting more than walking,” he said reflectively. “She didn’t have time to teach me everything, though. I’d only learnt aikido, karate, capoeira and taekwondo when – when it happened. And I practiced every day. I taught myself the ones she had started teaching me but never finished – judo, kendo, Tai Chi – and I’m no master of any of those three, but that’s where I learnt how to use a sword. I use martial arts because – that reminds me of her. It reminds me that her blood flows in my veins. That she is still alive in my heart. And my magic – my fighting style with my magic, it couldn’t have evolved to what it is today without that.”

Natsu stared at Gray for a minute.

Suddenly, he didn’t mind Gray being more badass than him in that respect. Not if it was tied to his family.

“That’s so cool.” he uttered finally. “Would you – would you teach me?”

Gray looked him up and down, and then snorted. “For what? To continue the tradition? I’ll teach our kids when we adopt one.”

Kids?!

Gray had actually thought about – kids?!

“Well, duh.” Gray snorted. “I want a family with you, idiot.”

Natsu looked at Gray for a minute, before kissing him hard.

“I love you.”

“Yeah, yeah, I love you too.”


End file.
